Memories
by Exotos135
Summary: On a walk back home, Leni meets an old teacher of hers and remembers how she helped her a long time ago...


At the local school of Royal Woods, Lincoln, Lucy, and the twins were heading outside with their second oldest sister: Leni. As for where Lisa was, she was probably doing one of her college lectures or something.

"Thanks for agreeing to walk us back home, Leni," Lincoln told his fashionista sister. "Though I'd rather have you finally earn that driving license, I'm sick of doing Lori's laundry."

"And I'm tired of writing poetry for Ronnie Anne to make her think the boy she likes returns her feelings, just to keep her from making Bobby decide to break up with her," Lucy added.

"Or using one of my pageant gowns in order to convince Bobby she won the "Royal Woods Teen Queen" pageant!" Lola added, flailing her arms. "Which I still don't know where she got it or where she got the idea it belonged to me, but a gown's still a gown!"

"Or forcing me to wear normal pajamas instead of my frog-themed ones because they make her uncomfortable!" Lana added.

Everybody gave Lana a weird look.

"Yeah, I have froggy pajamas, so what?!"

"It's no problem at all, guys," Leni responded, brushing her siblings' hair. "I'm just happy that, like, we get to walk back home toge-"

Suddenly, a familiar sight caught Leni's attention. That sight was Mrs. DiMartino, who was getting ready to leave the building as well. Then, once the teacher walked to the entrance, she too had her attention caught when she saw Leni, though at least instead of standing around looking dumbfounded, the woman gave Leni a smile.

"Leni, is something wrong?" Lincoln asked as he and his siblings stopped and looked at their older sister with worry.

"G-Guys, why don't you wait for me outside?" the fashionista told her siblings as Mrs. DiMartino approached her. "I... Need to do something first."

Not knowing what was up with Leni, but not wanting to get involved either, Lincoln and his sisters shrugged and went outside to wait for the fashionista. With them out of sight, Mrs. DiMartino and Leni finally met.

"M-Mrs. DiMartino..." Leni stuttered, trying to hold back her tears.

"Nice to see you again, Loud," the Hispanic woman grabbed Leni's cheek. "This place is a bit too public for us to speak. How about we go somewhere more private?"

Then, Leni and DiMartino entered the kindergarten classroom, upon which Leni's mind flashed a memory: A younger Leni, about as young as Lisa, gleefully played with some dolls and a dollhouse while her other classmates were napping, and Mrs. DiMartino was reading a book. Notably, this Leni's hair was long, yet also incredibly messy, totally unlike her present counterpart.

Once she returned to reality, she shed a single tear. "I still remember this place."

"Do you still remember what we talked about?" Mrs. DiMartino asked.

And with a somber look, Leni answered,

"Yes."

 _In the past..._

The younger Leni continued to play with her dolls when she was approached by DiMartino, who crouched down to her height and asked, "Leni, it's nap time, why aren't you napping with your classmates?"

"I'm not feeling sleepy," the younger Loud answered...

And then she fell asleep on top of the dollhouse, which hit her in the head hard enough to wake her up. Surprisigly enough, though, she didn't seem hurt by it.

"Leni, tell me the truth." DiMartino requested, putting a supportive hand on Leni's shoulder.

The kid fashionista took a deep breath, then answered. "This is the only time I can play with my dolls, or play at all, without my classmates teasing me about my hair."

Leni grabbed a lock of it, then swayed it to the side. They say it's, like, really dirty, and messy, but how can I help it when the pets like me so much, they show their love by making my hair a mess?"

Seeing the girl seemed legitimately upset about this, DiMartino soon got an idea. "I think I know how to help you."

A couple moments later, Leni was sitting in front of a mirror while the woman was cleaning her hair. Not that it was difficult, since a quick wash was all it needed to return to a completely clean state. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Mrs. DiMartino?"

"Trust me, Leni, when this is over, everybody will like how you look," DiMartino promptly grabbed a hairbrush. "Now stay still and close your eyes. When I finish, I'll let you know."

Leni did trust the woman enough to do as she said, but she still had some doubts over what she was talking about. Specially when the next couple minutes was filled with pain in her hair. Nonetheless, once DiMartino said "Open your eyes," Leni didn't hesitate to do so... And what she saw mesmerized her.

Her hair now looked like a blonde version of her teacher's hairstyle, but cleaner and with a softer texture. "Oh my gosh," Leni immediately chirped up. "I love it!"

"And remember, you have to brush your hair fifty times every day to get it to be this pretty," DiMartino jokingly added.

"Isn't that, like, a bit too much?"

"Well, I was kinda joking when I said you had to do it fifty times, it's up to you, really." then the woman took out a pair of glasses. "And now, the final touch."

DiMartino put the glasses on top of Leni, and now, the only thing they had to do was wait. The nap time finished, of course with Leni napping too, and once she woke up, everybody was looking at her in either awe, amazement, or outright jealousy.

"You're beautiful!"

"Gorgeous!"

"How did you trim your hair like that?"

"You kinda look like our teacher, but blonde. Not that I mind or anything."

And as Leni's classmates continued to shower her with praise, Leni turned to look at Mrs. DiMartino reading a book nearby, before turning to Leni and giving her a wink. Leni eagerly returned the wink shortly afterwards.

 _Back in the present..._

Leni took a deep breath and tried to take a step back, only to trip and fall backwards right into Mrs. DiMartino's arms. "I see you're still as clumsy as ever," the Hispanic woman joked.

"Some things never change," Leni giggled. "But thanks to you, I did manage to change for the better."

Then, just as the duo exchanged long, soulful looks, Leni remembered something. "Oh right! I'm supposed to, like, take Lincoln and my sisters back home!" Leni got up and quickly went to reunite with her siblings. "Thanks for the memories, Mrs. DiMartino!"

DiMartino waved goodbye, then watched from the window as Leni and her siblings walked back home. From there, Leni noticed her, so she gave Leni a peace sign, which she eagerly returned.


End file.
